STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2210

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2591

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2591 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require the chief of each county police department to submit an annual report to the Legislature by January 31 of each year covering misconduct incidents that resulted in suspension or discharge of a police officer from the calendar year immediately prior to the year of the report submission;

     (2)  Specify the information each report must contain, including updated information from previous reports; and

     (3)  Require the county police departments to retain the disciplinary records in accordance with their respective record retention policies or for at least six months, whichever period is longer.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest and one individual.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the State of Hawaii Police Officers Union.

     Your Committee finds that for over a decade, the only public information available concerning final suspensions of police officers has been the annual report to the Legislature, required by section 52D-3.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes; however, these reports provide minimal detail.  This measure improves the applicability of section 52D-3.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and creates a more informed public dialogue about misconduct by police officers.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2591 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair